Making a Bold move

October 30 2008

As I've traveled the last few weeks, my Blackberry Pearl has been the subject of a bit of mockery.  True, the trackball barely works, and the back cover is duct-taped on, but I've been very happy with the Pearl as a business-class device... so I've held on.  I knew that in time, RIM would come up with their next big thing, and I would move along in lock-step with them.

Today, thanks to Valerie, Jennifer, and the crew at RIM, my next Blackberry has arrived.

Image:Making a Bold move

I'm working on the transfer setup right now.  As much as I thought the Pearl was a great device, I'm looking forward to the full-size keyboard, wifi access, better browser/graphics, and all the other new bells and whistles.  I'll blog as I go on this voyage.

Oh -- My new Bold's package included a belt clip/carrying case.  I guess Valerie and crew realized that I need to do something differently so as not to be so abusive to this new phone. :)

Ed Brill | Highland Park, IL USA Category:  Blackberry Bold  Add/View Comments [26]

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  1. 1  Armin Auth http://authsider.wordpress.com | 10/30/2008 11:58:53 AM

    You will enjoy the Bold, I can promise you. I have the Bold now for two week and after using a 7230 and a 8700 before, this is the best quality device from RIM I have seen for long time. You will love the full size-keyboard and all the other functionality. I have to admit, I envy you a little for the belt clip, mine (from Vodafone Germany) came only with a etui, but the Blackberry webshop will solve that soon ;-)

  1. 2  Tim Haugen  | 10/30/2008 12:22:51 PM

    You jumped 2 weeks too early....

    { Link }

  1. 3  Charles Robinson http://www.cubert.net | 10/30/2008 12:36:46 PM

    Yeah, I'm waiting for the Storm. It'll be my first PDA type thing ever.

  1. 4  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/30/2008 12:37:34 PM

    I am not on Verizon, and can't switch due to IBM contracts, so the Bold is the right choice for me.

  1. 5  David Schaffer http://bloginprogress.us | 10/30/2008 12:52:46 PM

    Most AT&T customers won't get the Bold until Nov. 4 at the earliest

  1. 6  Henry Ferlauto http://www.geniusinside.com | 10/30/2008 1:29:40 PM

    I wonder what Verizon did for RIM as far as incentives go for the Storm. If AT&T had that as well, I think Verizon's "higher-end" subscriber rate would just start to plummet.

    Until Verizon embraces GSM they will continue to be on the short end of the handset stick.

  1. 7  John Head http://www.johndavidhead.com | 10/30/2008 1:34:52 PM

    @2 I would not choose the Storm over the Bold even if I could ... keyboard > touchscreen fanciness, be it Storm or iPhone

  1. 8  Patrick Darke  | 10/30/2008 2:02:45 PM

    Plus, when in Japan or Korea, your phone will actually work. ;)

  1. 9  Scott Marchione http://scottmarchione.blogspot.com | 10/30/2008 2:04:33 PM

    The Storm is nice, but I'm with John regarding the keyboard. I have the emulation loaded on my laptop, and at least when using the mouse, I can't type worth a lick on that thing. The predictive text isn't all that great when typing words like Kawasaki, or..... my last name (I'm not a Marchioness, I'm a Marchione!)

  1. 10  Greg Walrath http://www.gregwalrath.com/ | 10/30/2008 3:49:03 PM

    I'd love to get one of these, especially since the contract is up on my T-Mobile 8700. Any idea when the other carriers are going to have this one? AT&T service isn't that great around here (ironic, since they started here).

  1. 11  Adam Brown  | 10/30/2008 4:04:46 PM

  1. 12  Gavin Bollard http://dominogavin.blogspot.com/ | 10/30/2008 4:06:45 PM

    I just got mine a couple of days ago too. Over the next week I'm going to have to convert another ten people over. I've had it suggested that I need to work on a SOE for the Blackberry which ties them into or DRP strategy as a backup device. That's going to be interesting.

  1. 13  Adam Brown http://www.isw.com.au | 10/30/2008 4:06:54 PM

    Had a bold for a few weeks now. I moved from the 8800 and it is a great leap forward. Very slick device. I have a little case/sleeve for mine which I actually seem to be using for a change as it is fairly slim in size so I might be able to keep it nice and shiny for a while longer this time round.

  1. 14  Darren http://www.dadams.co.uk | 10/30/2008 6:06:22 PM

    No no no, this is not fair. I want one.

  1. 15  Mike Lazar  | 10/30/2008 6:30:20 PM

    If anyone can make a virtual keyboard that works, it'd be RIM. But, the next phone would be a Bold over a Storm, anytime, anyplace. Having a HTC 8900 now (AT&T Tilt), I really, really miss the BBerry full keyboard. The keys are just perfectly spaced for lightning fast thumb typing. The HTC keyboard is bigger but slower, if that makes sense.

  1. 16  John Head http://www.johndavidhead.com | 10/30/2008 9:09:01 PM

    @10 Greg - the rumor is 3 to 6 months ... a lot less than AT&T has with the iphone ...

    and another comment on the Storm .. No 3G means its not even part of the conversation for me

  1. 17  Giuseppe Grasso http://www.dominopoint.it | 10/31/2008 3:32:53 AM

    I love my Bold! Got it three weeks ago, upgrading from my treo. While I'm still missing some of the software I had on palmos, the Bold is a great machine: one if not the best screen I ever seen on a mobile, fast processor, wifi that works like a charm, excellent keyboard & overall build quality

  1. 18  Tim Haugen  | 10/31/2008 7:29:17 AM

    Yeah - wish the Storm had the Bold's connectivity - 3G and WiFi...

    @9 - turn it sideways.... In "portrait" mode, the Storm keyboard uses "SureType" like the Pearl and old 7100 series... in "landscape" mode, it's a full Qwerty.

  1. 19  Pete McPhedran  | 10/31/2008 9:10:56 AM

    Tip for all Bold users: Upgrade the handheld code as soon as you get it, they all ship with 4.6.0.125 and it has significant bugs. Your carrier should have the newest code available to download, currently it is 4.6.0.292 I believe.

    --Pete

  1. 20  Ed Brill http://www.edbrill.com | 10/31/2008 9:15:05 AM

    @19 FWIW mine is at 4.6.0.167. Looks like I should look to upgrade though.

  1. 21  Darren Duke http://blog.darrenduke.net | 10/31/2008 9:20:45 AM

    @5, most AT&T customers don't manage the Domino product line ;)

    It is a nice device (best keyboard on ANY device, anywhere), shame AT&T sat on it for so long while they milked the iPhone.

    As to other carriers and a Bold, check out BoyGenius, he is usually pretty right (and no, I am not BG). For the Storm the whole screen is "tactile" and it feels real good. As mentioned above it is suretype (or sure mis type) in portrait and full qwerty in landscape mode.

    Bold is 4.6 OS, Storm is 4.7. The differences are mainly to do with touch screen and gestures being added. Note, that the Browser in both devices is the shiny, squiffy new one, however applications that use the browser field type still use the 4.5 rendering engine (at least for 4.6, need to double check on 4.7).

  1. 22  Emilio Penedo http://www.absystems.biz/news.nsf | 10/31/2008 9:49:44 AM

    I got mine 6 days ago, I had to wait 3 weeks to get one with TELCEL, Mexico's largest cellular carrier. It works on 3G. Sametime Mobile works fine on it, and the browser supports the DWA_ulite mode (I use it to show how Notes will look on the iPhone).

  1. 23  Daniel Lieber  | 10/31/2008 10:14:08 AM

    @18: The Storm will be available with 3G connectivity (HSPA), but the specifications omit Wi-Fi.

    The Storm is a beautiful device and I also want to play with one, particularly to see if the keyboard really works as well and fast as a Bold. In the U.S., the Storm comes with an embedded SIM card for Verizon that allows international roaming, but not access to switch it to the AT&T network. Seeing the convergence of all of these technologies is truly exciting! And with the iPhone and Treo Pro in the market, those of us who are consumers are the ones really benefiting. Ed's lucky to get a device on launch day!

  1. 24  Max  | 10/31/2008 10:45:08 AM

    There's a little confusion when it comes to RIM's firmware. Some numbers refer to the application version while others refer to the firmware package.

    4.6.0.167 is actually package 4.6.0.298 which is the most recent - no need to upgrade or look further.

    When you press ALT+CAP+H on the Bold a help screen will display the AppVersion as:

    4.6.0.167 (298)

    Enjoy your Bold.

  1. 25  Turtle http://www.weightlessdog.com/shell.nsf | 11/1/2008 1:40:15 PM

    If the holster that comes with the Bold is anything like the holster on the 8800 (leather, elastic sides, magnetic-close strap over the top) you'll be fine. It's the only "holster" for any device that has never wanted to leap off my hip or eject the device onto the back floor of the car when pressed against the seat belt.